Delhi Police to make dropping of BPO staff at homes compulsory

New Delhi: Delhi Police will make it
mandatory for call centres to ensure that their employees are
dropped at their homes and are accompanied by security guards.

The decision came after the abduction and rape of a
30-year-old BPO employee who was dropped on the main road near
her house in Dhaula Kuan in south Delhi.
"We will surely promulgate an order making it mandatory
for the BPOs to ensure that its employees are dropped at homes
and not on main roads. I will issue an order under Delhi
Police Act or Section 144 of CrPC," B K Gupta, Delhi Police
Commissioner, told a press conference here.

The order, which will cover the BPOs, the drivers of
call-centre cabs and security guards accompanying the staff,
is likely to come out within two days. "We have to study the
matter and under which rule it can be promulgated. It may take
two days," Gupta said.

"The employees will have to be dropped at their homes.
If the vehicle cannot reach their homes, then the security
guard will have to accompany them till they reach the homes,"
he said.

Amulya Patnaik, Joint Commissioner (Southern Range), said
the Dhaula Kuan incident would not have happened if the cab of
Convergys, the BPO where the victim was working, dropped her
at home.

According to Gupta, the accused spotted the women in the
call-centre cab and started trailing them. "The moment they
saw the cab dropping the women and leaving the spot, they
thought it was an opportunity and abducted the victim.
"They were under the influence of alcohol and seizing
the opportunity that the girls were walking alone from the
Ring Road, they decided to abduct them," he said.

Gupta said police presence is "thin" during 1 am to 5 am.
"We have learnt that around 2,000 vehicles of call centres
operate during this time. They did not take precaution though
we had a meeting with them on November 18," he said.

According to a senior police official, Convergys had
outsourced ferrying of their employees to 400 cabs and it was
learnt that some BPOs change drivers every six months. "The
PCR vans will trail the BPO cabs and see where they are
dropping their employees," Gupta said.